Homesick
by punksonic
Summary: "Sonic thought when Merlina was defeated, he'd be able to finally go home. Oh, how wrong he was." Sonic and the Black Knight AU with a few extra characters to try and stay more faithful to the original source material. Rated T for violence, alcohol, and minor gore. Planned Sonic x Lancelot.
1. i

A/N - Reupload with edits. January 11th 2020

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Chapter O1. " _Look at the stars."_

"You cannot be serious!" Gawain's voice rang out immediately, now serving a glare to Sonic, the battle-worn and tired Sonic. "Him? The _real_ King Arthur? Surely you jest!" The echidna, as hot-headed as ever, even in this alternate world, continued the assault on Sonic's character before Percival stepped in to defend him.

"Enough. Caliburn's decision is final, you know this, do you not?" Percival's abrupt words silenced Gawain for only a moment as he glared her down through his visor. Sonic, however, was still stuck in his own world, glancing around as he searched for someone who was no longer there. Most of the other knights' arguments whilst they stood over the ruins of the battlefield had gone completely over Sonic's head as his brain slowed to a near halt the second the action had stopped.

"Where's...Merlina?" Sonic managed after a minute, catching the attention of everyone.

"Perhaps she escaped while all of our backs were turned." Lancelot spoke up for the first time, and he got Sonic's attention. The black and red hedgehog, more reserved than his own Shadow, had stayed stoic, although his visor obscured his face, as opposed to both Percival and Gawain who had both of their visors up.

"Damn! We should have executed her while we had the chance!" Gawain cursed, and Sonic visibly flinched.

"Hey! Don't act like that! She didn't mean to-!" Sonic was cut off immediately by Gawain, and the blue blur could _feel_ the glare boring into him.

"Are you suggesting _mercy_ against someone like that?" Gawain immediately threw back to Sonic. Sonic couldn't help but pause in his thinking, but he refuted this.

"Everyone deserves a second chance!" Sonic turned to Lancelot, looking now for an answer from his rival's counterpart that supported his own. "Lance, you can't seriously be suggesting she doesn't deserve one!" Sonic could feel his anger now fuelling his will to stay awake. Lancelot walked up to Sonic, stopping to where he was uncomfortably close to Sonic, and the former hero took a step back. "Some acts are not forgivable. Instead of immediately granting her clemency, there should be a-…"

Nimue clapped her hands together to stop the group's idle chatter that had turned to an argument in a matter of moments. "Come now, this is not the time to fight amongst each other. For now, Camelot is safe, should we not take pride in that?" Nimue smiled as she stated this, and Sonic took this subject change in stride.

"Yeah! C'mon guys, we all stuck our neck out for this kingdom, we should have a celebration this time!" As happy as Sonic was, his heart was torn in two. He thought that if the big bad thing of the day had been beaten, he could go home, but here he was.

Why did this happen to him?

In fact, the only thing that truly brought a smile to his face asides from a job well done was overhearing Percival beg Gawain quietly to hold back on the mead. The trip to the castle was quicker than he thought, and when he stepped onto the pathway leading into the courtyard in front of the castle. It was kept up just like a fairy-tale's version of a castle, with flowers of varying shades and types decorating the sides of the path. At first, Sonic was taken aback by this entire display, only seeing a lone gardener tending the flowers. That same gardener looked up and ran from the courtyard into the castle. Sonic ignored this for a moment, focusing on a single plant that featured red morning glories upon it.

Sonic gently took one of the flowers, marveling at it and turning it in his hand. The other knights hadn't noticed that Sonic had stopped, or they did and chose to continue into the castle. Only Lancelot stayed behind, observing Sonic's actions in silence. "My liege, the others are in the castle. Do you wish to remain here?" Sonic flinched at the first two words that Lancelot had said, and he turned around with the morning glory in both of his hands.

"Please, Lancelot...just call me Sonic. I don't want to be called that." His voice had been quieter than he had wanted it to be, and Sonic inwardly cursed himself for that. Lancelot fell silent for a moment before he nodded. "As you wish."

Sonic didn't really accept the answer, but he didn't say anything in response. He genuinely hoped that Lancelot would at least try to remember it. "Come." Lancelot turned his head to look at Sonic instead of the plant that the flower came from. The noises of the main hall were starting to pick up, and the young hedgehog perked his head up to the knight. "The rest of the staff is waiting, I assume." Lancelot walked to the entrance of the castle and Sonic quickly picked up the pace behind him. The main hall was something to behold, the few maids still rushing around the area stopped only a moment to gawk at Sonic and Lancelot.

With a red carpet extending from the entrance to the room that led to yet another room. The archways were simply enormous, the wooden floors dark and contrasting against the red rug that had been lined with gold thread. There were two staircases at the end of the entrance, leading up and then to a balcony which led to the left and right that disappeared behind walls. The ruckus was coming from the left, and Sonic assumed it to be the dining hall as he sniffed the air, smelling something that was...meaty, maybe? Sonic hesitated before he followed behind Lancelot, reasoning to himself that it was okay to eat in here, he hasn't eaten since yesterday. It's not like he was in hell and would be damned there for eating six pieces of fruit or however the story went.

Even then, it wasn't much, just berries that he found along the way. Sonic stepped inside the banquet hall and was greeted to the coolest scene in his mind. Several people were gathered at the table, several in armour, and all he recognized. The head of the table was left empty, as well the right side. The laughter and general conversation died down as the two arrived. Sonic felt the air solidify to the point that he felt that he could literally use Caliburn to cut it if he could. All eyes were on him, and with a sheepish grin, Sonic waved to the group as he quickly made his way alongside Lancelot. Lancelot sat in the seat to the right, and it left Sonic in the very uncomfortable front seat. Instead of taking his time, he just took the seat as quickly as he could.

"To the return of our king!" Gawain raised a glass of brownish-clear liquid, not taking Sonic long to put the pieces together to realise that it was alcohol. "To the king!" The rest of the knights cheered with Gawain with their own glasses, and the room erupted into conversation and laughter once again. The only one without alcohol was Sonic, and he didn't dare ask for any, not keen on the idea of getting drunk with the rest of the knights. He looked to Lancelot for a moment, seeing the other being the only one not drinking, with Percival only taking one sip from the glass she had before slowly pushing it over to the green hawk sitting next to her, quickly murmuring a couple of lines to him. He shrugged and just kept it next to his own mug.

Sonic ate what he had in front of him quietly as one of the knights walked over to him, with their visor down, much like how Lancelot had. They were a biscotti coloured wolf, in full armour despite the celebration. " _Sire? May I have a moment of your time?_ " Sonic had barely been able to hear the wolf over the noise.

"Uh...it's just Sonic but go ahead." The wolf gestured to the outside of the dining hall. Sonic nodded slowly as he pushed himself back in the seat. He took a glance to Lancelot, who only nodded and waved him off. Sonic didn't exactly know why he kept referring to Lancelot, but he was the one who declared himself to be the closest to the former king. Percival came in close second because the only other one he knew looked like he was drunk. He had no idea how Knuckles acted while drunk at home, but if it was anything like how Gawain was acting, he didn't want a part of it.

Sonic took the wolf's invitation to leave immediately and followed the quiet knight out. As soon as the two were out, Sonic glanced to the outside, seeing the sun already starting to set. It took him by surprise, but he guessed the ever so slight chill to the air suggested that it was starting to turn to winter. " _I would like to thank you for your time, milord._ " It was a more feminine voice than he expected as she now removed her visor. Her eyes were shut, and Sonic immediately became concerned over this. "I hate to ask, but are your eyes alright?" He held out his hand out Tristan, only slightly.

Tristan nodded her head with a small smile. " _Aye, sire, I am fine, but I thank you for your concern._ " She bowed ever so slightly to Sonic, now putting him in an awkward position.

"No need to be so formal! It's just people in the castle here, nothin' to worry about!" He reassured the knight with a light smile. The wolf hesitated before continuing.

" _I apologise for consuming so much of your time, but if you wish to learn of the bow, then you only need to call upon me. Asides from that, I am at your service._ "

Tristan stopped herself and bowed again. Sonic smiled sheepishly as he grabbed onto Tristan's hand and shook it lightly for a moment. "Thanks, Tristan. I'll keep you in mind!" The moment he let go, Tristan pushed the visor on her helmet down and nodded quickly. She quickly excused herself, and left to the right side of the castle, leaving Sonic alone.

He sighed to himself, the party to the left only growing more and more rowdy. As much as Sonic loved to be at parties, for now, all he wanted was to be alone. He started to walk back out to the courtyard again, taking a turn down the path and then taking a seat in front of a small group of light pink and white hollyhocks, still holding onto the red marigold in his hand that he had picked earlier. As he stared at the red marigold in both of his hands, he felt tears building up on the sides of his eyes.

He just wanted to go home, damn it. He thought if he defeated the big bad of the day, he'd be granted that reprieve, but it just didn't come. His thoughts only immediately went to his brother, and he felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Oh, Chaos...Tails, buddy…" Sonic stared at his hands as the tears started to sting and fall onto the flower. They fell onto his torn and dirtied gloves, only furthering his grief.

Oh, what he wouldn't give right now to be able to go home right now.

His moping apparently didn't go unnoticed by the most senior of the Knights of the Round Table. The click of the shoes that Lancelot wore alerted Sonic long before the other arrived. Once they had stopped, they were right beside Sonic, something the young hedgehog took uncomfortable note of. "Sir Sonic-" There was that Chaos-forsaken honorific again. Sonic knew it to be only custom, but it still genuinely bothered him to this day. "-If I may be so presumptuous, may I ask what it was Sir Tristan pulled you away for?" The question only made Sonic sigh softly in response as he sat up from his slouching position.

"He introduced himself, said that he's good at bows and would like to show me how to use them." Sonic didn't really decide to dance around the subject this time, continuing further. "I mean, I'm really flattered, but a bow just...really isn't my style."

The ebony hedgehog hummed in response, leaving the two in a beat of silence. "Sir Tristan is an...odd character. She was recruited off the claim that...the original King Arthur made that she had saved his life from bandits with three arrows. Although, I would not doubt that a bit of it was embellished during supper." Lancelot folded his arms behind his back, staring out at the courtyard with Sonic sitting with his knees to his chest.

"I would not expect a replacement to be able to do much more than Arthur. I believe he recruited Tristan for her bow-work, not her heroism alone. He was not exactly...remarkable with the bow." Sonic did not offer a response to this, as it was quite literally just court gossip, and he despised that kind of talk with every fiber of his being. It took only a few moments for Lancelot to move on to what he truly wished to know, or at least, that was what Sonic initially thought.

"Would you be willing to inform me why it is that you did not return to the party? It is in celebration of you. One would think you would enjoy that."

The analysis came so out of nowhere that it made Sonic jerk his head up back into reality, sitting up straighter than he did before, stifling the cough that unintentionally showed itself from the scathing remark. After he recovered, he simply slouched back to a more comfortable position. "I normally love parties, Lance. Used to throw the craziest ones back home, but…" Chaos, he was really going to just tell the closest guy next to him why he was an emotional wreck tonight. "...just reminded me of how this ain't home." Sonic sunk his head in between his legs and huffed quietly.

"I miss my brother, Lance." Sonic stated simply, already feeling his composure start to slip, but he went on. "I just want to go home, why is it so damn hard for me to just have that? I don't want none of this king business, I'm not meant for that kind of job!" Sonic lashed out for once, gripping onto his legs for any kind of stability.

"It is your duty to lead the people, my liege. This is what comes with that responsibility." Lancelot stated plainly. Sonic's quills bristled at the title.

"I told you not to call me that. I'm Sonic. Please…" Sonic had been brought down to a simple beg as he felt tears forming. "There's got to be another way, right?" Sonic still clung onto the last piece of hope he still had. The moment of silence lasted far too long before Lancelot nodded.

"Perhaps. Merlina was the one to summon you, was she not?" Sonic nodded in response to this question, letting Lancelot continue. "Perhaps she is the one who has information upon this." Seeing Sonic quickly wipe his eyes as they lit up to stare up at Lancelot, he continued. "We should seek the Lady of the Lake's guidance upon this task."

"Let's go tonight."

"I beg your pardon?"

Sonic, with renewed determination, stood up to his feet. "Tonight. Doesn't take long to get there, right? Just get there, see if good ol' Nimue is okay to do some guiding!" Sonic grinned, his mood already starting to cheer up from the idea of just going somewhere. Getting stuck with something you didn't choose? Yeah, it started to take its toll on the hedgehog visibly as he hid his exhausted complexion with a smile.

He had noticed that the other had not even pushed his visor up. "I would not recommend that. You barely escaped death today. Perhaps early tomorrow at a decent hour would do better?" Lancelot suggested softly.

It still took Sonic a moment to process it. He was still used to how Shadow acted, and Shadow never really cared about what time it was, nor about what Sonic had been through before the next adventure he was about to go on. Even though it was probably a forced concern, Sonic still didn't know what to do with it. "I, uh…" Sonic started right before he trailed off, only making himself flushed as he just lost any kind of train of thought he might have had.

"Shall I take that as a yes, Sir Sonic?" Again with that honorific. Well, at least he was trying.

"J-Jus' Sonic's fine! But, yeah, makes sense when you put it that way...bet the Lady of th' Lake needs her sleep too." Sonic stuttered out last second, and if it weren't for the helmet, Sonic would have sworn that Lancelot would have smirked.

The idea of any kind of Shadow smiling genuinely was foreign to him, and any kind of mental image Sonic thought up of in his head just unnerved him. Sonic shook his head of the thought of an impossibly wide grin that stretched around the entire muzzle and cursed his imagination for producing the nightmare of the night. Still unable to get over the embarrassed flush, Sonic instead opted to keep his gaze to the ground.

"Sire-...I apologize, Sir Sonic. Your gloves are irreparable, are they not?" Lancelot once again broke the silence Sonic didn't even realise had taken over. He had been paying attention to where the two were going, up the left hand set of stairs to the left hall, down the corridor, only to barely collide into Lancelot.

"Uh…" Sonic stared down at his hands, still cupping the red marigold in it. He quickly put it behind his ear to at least preserve it for now and inspected his hands quickly. There were some nasty wounds there on his hands from the fighting, and even from when Caliburn broke, and part of his blade tore into the left hand. His dominant.

"Yeah, probably. Damn, Ames worked hard on these, too…" Sonic cursed out loud, not exactly on purpose, and quickly took them off. He finally looked up from the ground, and his ears pinned back from the sheer size of the hallway. It was long, by his standards, enough for him to get a good run in, and that's way too long for something indoors. "What are all these rooms for?" The blue blur still studied the entire castle, absolute enamoured by the structure. Despite the candles attached to the walls that looked to be made of wood, the wood did not burn. Magic? It sure looked it, yet it just seemed too familiar, almost tempting him to reach out to touch it.

That's stupid though. He decided to tune back into Lancelot who finally had an explanation. Or was it himself that time slowed for? Rather than wanting to answer that question, Lancelot gladly stopped the hero's train of thought.

"Several purposes. This side is housed for living quarters, as well as a few other necessities, but you will come to learn about them in time the longer you stay." Lancelot then paused in his sentence, thinking only for a moment before continuing. "That is, if you decide to stay." The only thing Sonic could even take relative comfort in was the fact that Lancelot was at least somewhat as monotone as Shadow was, leaving the hedgehog able to take solace in at least one place. The two continued before Lancelot finally stopped again, this time in front of a door. He opened it and Sonic peered inside.

Somehow, he had a feeling that he couldn't just ask for a simple hammock.

What he was greeted with was a bed that had definitely been designed to be twice his size in surface area in the far left corner of the room, with the nearest right holding a small bookcase filled to the brim with books and a single plain wood chair, and a wax candle holder with the candle lit, only a quarter of it gone. An armoire stood proudly to the immediate right, and beyond that, a window with a place to sit at with only a few pillows to act as cushions right in front of it. "Wow…" That was all Sonic could really manage at the sight. A lot of it was white, red, or even gold. It wasn't that hard to guess what the former king's favorite colours were. "He had some real nice taste…" Sonic whistled in appreciation as he strolled in, Lancelot following close behind.

The bed itself had a red blanket on it, which Sonic immediately took to sitting on, impressed with how soft it was. He wasn't going to say it out loud. "Didn't think you'd show me your king's old room. Takes a lotta guts to do that." Sonic stated, staring up at the white canopy that the bed's mahogany bed posts helped create.

"Milord, I do not think you understand the situation." Sonic could just hear the slightest hint of frustration, and Sonic flicked both of his ears back. "This is to be your room until you are able to go home."

Sonic tried to not let it show that being reminded of this looming responsibility once again shook him to his core. "Until then, perhaps it is best I get someone to see to your injuries-" Sonic held up his hand to Lancelot's suggestion and shook his head.

"I'll be fine in here on my own. They're not that painful. Don't need to waste anyone's time with that, okay?" Sonic then let himself smile. "But thanks for tonight. Showing me to the room saves me from getting lost for a few hours and falling asleep in the hall after giving up." The other simply turned on his heels before he decided to respond.

"Sire, you would make one of the maids faint if you were to do something along those lines, I assure you of that." Lancelot stated simply as he left the room and closed the door behind him. Sonic held out his hand, but before he could say a word, the opportunity was gone. Sonic instead got up from the bed, strolling over to the only source of light in the room at that moment, the candle. It looked like fire. With that in mind, Sonic inhaled sharply and blew out the candle, cloaking the room in darkness. As Sonic's eyes adjusted with the starlight seeping in through the thin white curtains, he made his way back to the bed. It still felt...wrong to sleep in someone else's bed, so he instead took the red blanket off, leaving plenty more on the bed.

He wrapped the blanket around him, placing the flower now on the bed, and travelled back to the window, gazing out at the sight before him. The castle's town was asleep, no one awake at this time of night it seemed, from what he could see. The downward slope provided a view that let Sonic see almost all the buildings. His mind slowly wandered back to Station Square, how he had this exact same feeling on New Year's Eve, when he sat upon the rooftop of an apartment complex ten stories high at the very least.

He remembered the smell of smoke that filled the air when the fireworks went off, the sounds of cheering and laughter that could even be heard from how far above he was. The cold winter night didn't seem so bad back then, because he knew where he was, and that was home. Here, however, he was as lost as a kid in a train station, separated from their mother, and as he laid down on the makeshift bench that was the windowsill, he finally looked at the stars.

They looked the exact same way they did at home.


	2. ii

A/N - Reuploaded with edits on January 11th 2020

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Chapter O2. _"See how they shine ... for you."_

The two travelled in relative silence until the fog started to form around the forest. A sign that the two were coming closer to the lake. They finally reached the shore of the lake and Sonic stopped at the shore. "I did not expect you to return so soon, my king." The female voice startled Sonic, but Lancelot took to his knee. Sonic mirrored what Lancelot did, and Nimue emerged from the fog, laughing gently as she covered her mouth. "Oh, you need not to be so formal, it is just the three of us." She held out her hand and motioned upwards with it, letting the two stand up, with Shadow rising immediately, and Sonic stumbling up in a panic.

"Besides, a king should not bow like that." Sonic's ears folded back out of embarrassment, quickly glancing to the side. Her laugh came through again, slightly easing up Sonic to at least be able to look Nimue in the face, only grimacing slightly. "Oh, do not worry, I know how you do not like that title, Sir Sonic. I was only kidding." A joke? Sonic forced a smile, feeling like a moron at the fact that he missed something like that. Sonic sighed to let go of the built-up tension in him that he didn't even realise that he had. "My lady, as much as the two of us would enjoy the opportunity to continue this talk, we do have a pressing question."

Lancelot interrupted immediately, and Nimue folded her hands together with a small smile. "Ah, yes, the most pressing topic on both of your minds. I suppose that I will let you both in on a secret. There does exist a doorway to another world, much like the one that Merlina had used, but there are four relics scattered throughout the country. To make your lives easier, however…" Nimue slowly took off a necklace, a simple light cyan crystal, and approached Sonic. She held it out to him with a light smile, and Sonic took it with a confused look now on his face. "This is the North's relic. There exists three more for each cardinal direction, in special regions. The locations are a volcano, a forest, and a canyon, I believe." Her smile returned as she watched Sonic slowly slip it around his neck, marvelling at it as he twisted it around in his hands.

"They are very precious, so do not lose them, okay?" Sonic nodded at Nimue's words, glancing over to Lancelot now this time. "You uh…" Sonic started at first, holding the crystal in both of his hands. "You know where these places are exactly, by any chance? Outside of the obvious." Sonic grinned sheepishly, again self-conscious of himself. "I know where the West's relic is. I believe that is the canyon, and it should have the guide to the next one is located. I am afraid that we must prepare for this journey, though, and return to the castle for now." Lancelot spoke briefly before he bowed to Nimue.

"It has been a pleasure, my Lady." Lancelot stood up to his full height, and Nimue laughed gently again. "Oh, think nothing of it, Sir Lancelot. The pleasure was all mine." The formalities had ended as Lancelot turned around and walked away. Sonic quickly pursued, waving to Nimue as he left. She waved back with a gentle smile and called out to Sonic. "Do be careful, Sir Sonic!" Nimue warned, just in time for Sonic to yell back. "Don't worry! I'm the fastest thing alive, after all!"

Seeing that he had fallen behind with Lancelot, he quickly sped up to catch up. "Hey, wait up, Lance!" Sonic called out with a laugh, only slowing down when he had been right next to Lancelot. Lancelot had not slowed down, nor had he sped up at all, so that was probably an improvement. "You seem to be barely improving with your manners." Lancelot stated plainly, and Sonic beamed with the praise, as partially backhanded as it was. "Heh, y'think?" Sonic folded his hands behind his head as he walked, rocking a wide grin.

"You have a long way to go to achieve passable manners, my liege." Sonic could barely hear the smile in Lancelot's voice. Oh, so that was one of his jokes! Sonic's grin turned into a smirk as he dropped his hands to his side. "An' you got a long way t' go to be your own dude, don't 'cha think?" Sonic teased, eliciting a sigh from Lancelot.

"You seek something that is hard to change, my liege." Lancelot responded, and Sonic's ear twitched slightly. "It's still Sonic, can't change that either, Lance." Sonic hummed as he waited to hear the response from Lancelot and found himself to be waiting for a while. "I would prefer it if you referred to me by my full name, Sir Sonic." Progress had still been made, and Sonic smiled again. "A'ight, Lancelot, I'll make sure to remember that!" Sonic chirped, and if Sonic could have seen through that visor of his, Sonic might have been able to see the slight smile that Shadow had.

x

The two arrived back to the courtyard within a couple of hours, but the sun had made the area seem like that it was almost evening. Sonic glanced to the sky with a frown. "What month is it, anyways?" Sonic questioned after a moment with his attention now to Lancelot. "It is November, the last I had checked." Lancelot answered shortly after. "It is ill advised that we leave without preparation for the nights that we will be away, so we will begin preparations now." Lancelot stated as he led Sonic through the courtyard, and into the halls of the castle, this time to the right.

In a room to the right, Sonic was greeted to what looked to be an armoury, with lines of armour stands with armour on them. "Now then, we are going to address the issue of armour for you. It is a travesty that you had to have gone without all this time." Sonic stifled a yelp that threatened to make this situation even worse as Lancelot put both of his hands on both of Sonic's sides. With this proximity, Sonic was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, even feeling himself start to flush, so he quickly averted his gaze to the side.

"Uh..." Sonic did try to back up, but it didn't work with how Lancelot had positioned himself.

"What are you doing?" The hedgehog barely managed to not stutter, but he was still dangerously close to doing so. Lancelot withdrew his hands and turned to one of the armour stands, just having the same kind of armour Lancelot himself had, but dark blue. "You have the same body type as King Arthur did." Lancelot stated as he pulled off the armour from the armour stand. He handed the helmet to Sonic who just stared at the helmet for a minute.

The blue blur put the helmet on, and the visor fell over his view, obscuring it for a moment and startling him only for a moment. His quills stiffened before he started laughing, flicking the visor up with a wide grin. Without much of a warning, he pushed the visor up on Lancelot's own helmet. What he was greeted with really threw him off his guard. He knew that Lancelot looked like Shadow, but this was different. There were a few scars on his darker muzzle, and his red eyes were only slightly duller than his counterpart's.

Sonic's laugh faded as he stared at them before shaking his head and pushing his own visor down to cover the growing blush that that he felt on his muzzle and turned around to take off the helmet. He was no longer facing Lancelot anymore, so he could let himself calm back down. He never really felt this way about Shadow back home, so he didn't really understand what was so different about Lancelot at all. "The, um...armour should be okay if it fit..." Sonic tried talking again, his grip tightening on the helmet.

He didn't let himself stay any longer, bolting from the armoury as quickly as he could to save the embarrassment that he felt from the entire interaction.


	3. iii

A/N - Reuploaded with edits on January 11th 2020. Just one more! I think. I don't know. Word is a dick

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Chapter O3. _"And all the things that you do."_

Sonic stayed where he was in front of the courtyard, listening to the distant sounds of the town below. The wooden wheels against the cobblestone path was something he heard from far away, and he stood back up, quickly making his way back into the castle. He navigated the halls again, this time simply going to the room he had stayed the night in last night. Sonic pushed open the door again, seeing that the room had been picked up again while he was gone.

The red blanket was back on the bed, but everything else remained the same in the room. He swiftly opened the armoire that was near him, spying a hooded cloak that was just brown cloth. Sonic grinned as he took it, closing the doors of it as he slipped it on. With one last look to the helmet, he put the helmet on the bed, and sighed. He sniffed as he quickly wiped his eyes, not even realising that he was tearing up. He didn't quite realise how much he had been holding back this entire time. "I don't get it…" Sonic sniffed, sitting down in front of the bed and leaning back against it. Everything was just so different, and he desperately craved just something familiar.

There was a knock at the door, and Sonic flinched, unable to stop himself from crying. He stared to the floor, with his ears folding back at the sound of the door opening. "Sire?" Lancelot's voice barely registered in Sonic's mind, and the young hedgehog didn't respond, drawing closer into the cloak as he pulled his knees to his chest. He really didn't want to see him right now, and the blue blur knew that Lancelot was part of the reason that he felt so weird right now. He heard Lancelot walk closer, and sit by him, leaving Sonic to only feel more uncomfortable. "S-Sorry." Sonic mumbled almost immediately. "For bailing on you like that."

Lancelot didn't respond, and Sonic continued. "I jus' felt weird, an' I didn't want to stick around feeling like that. Now that I think 'bout it, it was stupid. You're actually like...nice, an' I jus' don't even know what to do with that." Sonic now took the relic into both of his hands with a quiet sigh. "I feel like a fish outta water, Lancelot, an' you're probably the one thing that's anything close to home. It's really…" Sonic smiled bitterly down to the crystal. "I don't understand it at all." He heard the hedgehog next to him shift closer, but he didn't decide to comment on it.

"I pledged myself to the king years ago, when I was much younger, and he had saved my life." Lancelot quietly stated, the shifting of armour, and the clink of metal signified that Lancelot probably took one piece of his armour off. Sonic didn't say a word, wiping his eyes again.

"King Arthur was a great guy, who knew what he was doing, Lancelot. I don't. I'm not cut out for this kind of stuff." Sonic huffed quietly. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced up to Lancelot. His heart practically stopped. Lancelot had taken off his helmet, which still stole Sonic's breath from him. Where he only saw a confused expression before, now there was one that was sympathetic.

"The king used to have similar doubts about his ability as well. It shows that you are fit for the role, and you have concern for the people. That is a quality that a king should have." From where Sonic was sitting, it did look like Lancelot was taller than he was. Shadow was shorter than Sonic, but Lancelot was taller than the two of him. He felt his stomach slowly turn, but in a way that didn't make him sick. "In case you had forgotten, both Caliburn and Lady Nimue had agreed you were to be the perfect choice for king. Do you not trust their judgement?"

Sonic flinched at Lancelot's words, and he quickly shook his head. "I want to go home, but..." Sonic folded his hands in his lap, a quiet sigh coming from him. "I don't want to leave everyone here either. I wanna try an' find a different king to rule, or maybe you can?" Sonic was slightly hopeful, but Lancelot shook his head.

"I am not meant to be a king. My duty is by his side." Lancelot stated coldly. "You proved yourself fit, but I am willing to assist you in your journey home if it is truly what you wish." Sonic allowed himself to show an unsteady grin, as he felt tears forming again. He pushed his tears to the side with his palms. He really did underestimate just how loyal Lancelot was, and that was something he really didn't see with Shadow back home. It only hurt to remember that now.

"I thought you were jus' doin' that 'cus of all that weird chivalry stuff." Sonic laughed bitterly, now staring back to the floor. Lancelot took Sonic by surprise as he simply put his arm around Sonic, allowing the other to lean on him. Sonic did feel himself start to blush at the proximity that Lancelot had forced the other into, but it's not like Sonic minded. Wait, why didn't he mind this? This felt like it was something he probably should have taken issue with, as he only ever really gave a voluntary hug to Tails, and involuntary to Amy.

But somehow, he felt like he enjoyed it.

He slipped into his own world for only a little while, only listening partially to Lancelot now. "No. I believe that you should be allowed the choice of staying or leaving. It is only fair after you had saved the kingdom from its certain ruin." The young hedgehog took the words in silence, staring down at his feet now. The cloak was warm, and the day had been long. He had undergone enough emotional turmoil for a few days to where he wanted desperately to sleep the night away.

The sun had already been setting in the window, and Sonic sighed. "That cloak was a favourite of the king's, once upon a time." Lancelot broke the temporary silence, snapping Sonic awake. Oh, Chaos, he almost fell asleep while doing that. He was such a moron. "Was it?" Sonic asked quietly, eliciting a nod out of Lancelot.

"Cool..." Sonic felt any kind of energy that remained in him suddenly dissipate, and his body just fell against Lancelot. The blue blur already felt his eyes close, and even as Lancelot sounded like he had been startled by this, and whatever he had said to Sonic was lost to him as he fell into a sleep that was needed.

Sonic felt the weight of something warm against him, stilling his movement for only a little bit. He felt dizzy, not sure of why he was even like this in the first place. His memory was foggy, only really remembering bits and pieces at a time. Did he hit his head, or was it something else? Sonic held his head as he slowly sat up. He was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unknown room. Sonic shook his head for a moment and stared at the bed.

There were so many blankets, something he was sure he wasn't used to, and as he pushed back the dark navy-blue blankets that he had been buried under and he suddenly flinched, realising that he had injury over his chest. It was covered in gauze, all over his abdomen, and his legs. They hurt like nothing else, specifically his chest.

Sonic tried to at least stand up, his heart practically seizing in his chest. He wheezed as he put his hand on the bed, his legs shaking as he finally gripped onto the crystal necklace. Then, like a punch to the face, he finally remembered fully what happened.

x

 _When Sonic woke up next to Lancelot, he felt himself flush in embarrassment. Of course, the other had fallen asleep, and a quick look outside to the window made it clear it was late at night. He slowly pushed Lancelot to make sure he didn't move as he stood up. "Sorry, Lance..." Sonic murmured quietly. "I'm not gonna bother you with this. I'll get them all tonight, an' then I'll be outta all your guys' hair." He stares for only a moment before he straightens up with a sigh._

 _"You guys deserve a better king than this dumbass." He smiled bitterly. "Especially you, Lancelot. Hope the next king you get is smarter than me. You deserve that at the very least." Sonic turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him gently. The cloak around him guarded the hedgehog from the immediate cold that greeted him, and he sneezed._

 _The hallway was dark, with only a few windows' moonlight guiding Sonic down the stairs, and into the courtyard once again. He found himself stopping at the red marigolds once again. How long has he been in this world? Only five days, if he remembered correctly, but he felt like he was here for so much longer. He took yet another of the flowers with him, staring at it again for a little while longer before tucking it into his pocket._

 _Sonic turned around only just now remembering about Caliburn. Right, if he's going to be out and about, he should take Caliburn. He's the one who knows the region that wasn't one of the knights. Sonic sighed as he quickly made his way back to the armoury. "Caliburn?" Sonic called out into the armoury, hearing the shift of metal._

 _"Why is it that you are here at this hour, Sir Sonic?" Caliburn's voice was quiet, respectful of the fact that maybe Sonic didn't want others to know where he was. Sonic's hands drifted to the crystal around his neck, his eyes glued to the ground. Caliburn may have been right in front of him, but he had little confidence in himself now._

 _"Is that not one of the relics?" Caliburn now drifted closer to Sonic, the hedgehog seeing the sword study the crystal. Sonic did nod in response, and Caliburn sighed. "I see. You wish to open the old gate. I am afraid that the Lady of the Lake might have misguided you, as I do not know if the gate is still operable." Sonic's ears flattened in response, but he picked up the handle anyways._

 _"I'm going to try. It's my only hope after all." Sonic stated quietly, eliciting a sigh from Caliburn. As soon as Sonic readjusted his grip on the sword, he grabbed a sheath, slipping Caliburn into it and putting it around his waist. It was leather, but the same colour as his new gloves. They were cloth though, that was what struck Sonic as odd._

 _"Well, Sir Sonic, the relic will be able to guide you. I know of the general locations that the relics are hidden." When Sonic frowned in confusion, the sword laughed. "You will understand when you reach the canyon. That is our first location, after all. I will guide you as soon as you are outside of the town." Sonic nodded at the sword's words and left the armoury._

 _His shoes, the only original thing from his home he still had anymore, were quiet against the wood floor, even on the cobblestone path that let him out of the castle. He huffed quietly against the cold, pulling the cloak closer to him. "Sir Sonic-" Caliburn's voice rang out in alarm, but Sonic had no time to react._

 _He only felt something strike his chest, and he didn't even see what was happening. All he could feel was something burning, and by Chaos, it hurt like literal hell. He felt the grass against him as he slammed against the ground. It was a welcome change from the pain. It felt a little bit like home._

x

Sonic felt a growl come from his throat. He was absolutely mortified that he could just have his memory just stolen like that. As far as he knew, it was probably the temporary effect that the spell that took him down had. It had to have been a spell, there's no way around that. He only knew a single wizard, and he prayed to Chaos that Merlina wasn't behind this.

"Cal-Caliburn?" Sonic stuttered out, already feeling his voice fade from the pain it brought from his chest. There was no response. Sonic stared blankly to the wall, and finally decided to study his surroundings. The bed he had woken up in was so much smaller than the one in the king's room. It just looked to be a bed that got shoved into a cave with a curtain instead of a door. Sonic pushed aside the curtain, staring out into the hallway.

He was greeted with an older looking cream rabbit. His mind immediately jumped to Miss Vanilla, and he already felt his heart sink ever so slightly. "Oh, you are awake!" The rabbit clapped her hands together with a wide smile. Her dress was of the era, looking more like she may have been a peasant. Odd, but okay. "It is a miracle that you woke up! You have been unresponsive for two days, we were so worried!"

Sonic's ears flattened against his head. Two days? That made six. Sonic's heart fell into the pit of his stomach. "Two...?" Sonic repeated, and the rabbit nodded as she folded her hands over her stomach.

"You were gravely injured outside of the forest, and my daughter helped me to nurse you to health. My name is Annabelle. My daughter is asleep as of right now, but her name is Ainsley." Annabelle smiled once again and held her hand out to Sonic. He slowly took her hand as he glanced up to her. She was taller than him, so much taller than he expected.

"I'm Sonic." He introduced himself quietly, and the rabbit guided him through the tunnel system. "That is a lovely name, Sonic." Annabelle said after a beat, stopping now in front of a large cavern's entrance. "Now, I must leave you for a moment. Your sword is in here, being watched after by Ainsley. I will be back to fetch you for dinner soon."

Sonic slowly stepped into the cavern, seeing that the entire cave was covered with purple crystals jutting out from almost everywhere. Yet there was one that was in the middle that he felt himself drawn to, much like the one he had around his neck. Was it supposed to be a relic? That made no sense, though, his own was so small, yet this crystal had to been forty times his size.

A small rabbit, tending to a sword, was sitting in front of a monolithic crystal that took up half of what felt like a ballroom of space, and Sonic made his way to the young rabbit. The rabbit took attention of Sonic's approach, and waved with her free hand. "Hello! Are you the owner of this sword?" Her voice was quiet, and indicative on her age. Was this supposed to be Cream from back home?

Sonic nodded in response as he finally finished his approach. "Ah, that is troubling news. I am Ainsley, the priestess in training for the God that resides here." She handed the sword in its sheath to Sonic, who immediately unsheathed it. There was no face in the hilt anymore, and Sonic frowned. "Is this a joke?" Sonic questioned almost immediately, and the rabbit shook her head.

"I am afraid not. My mother is the main priestess here, and she took the sword from me shortly after I had begun to speak to him. When she gave him back, he was like that. I... I cannot restore it." Sonic stared at Ainsley as he slowly began to process the details. "Sir Sonic, my mother knows who you are, and wishes to use you in a very dangerous ritual. I am afraid that...after you, I am next. Please, leave whilst you can."

Now with an unconstrained growl, Sonic put the sheath around his waist, quickly shoving the sword into his sheath. "Tell me on the way. We're getting you out of here." Ainsley nodded, putting both her hands on the crystal behind her, shattering it in a few seconds. The pieces faded into the ground, leaving yet another crystal like Sonic's own, handing it to Sonic. "This will help. It is one of the relics."

Sonic took it in his hands, putting it in his pocket that he knew housed the flower. He rubbed his eyes quickly, already feeling the grief starting to build and he held his hand out to Ainsley with a bitter smile. "Come on. We'll get out of here together." Sonic reassured quietly, and Ainsley took his hand.

With a quick swoop, Ainsley was on his back. "Hang tight, I'm going full speed." Sonic spoke quickly before he took off at just under Mach One. He didn't dare go faster with how tight the tunnels were, but he used his nose to try and figure out where the grass was, but he didn't even smell any. He was lost, but he seemed to be able to go upward slowly but surely.

Ainsley laughed over the wind, her ears floating behind her. "This is absolutely spectacular, Sonic!" She cheered, and Sonic glowed with pride. He skidded to a halt when a wall was erected in front of him, and Annabelle was standing right by it, her hand placed upon it with a sly smile.

"Oh, are you two going somewhere?"


	4. iv

A/N: Okay combined like three chapters into this mess. Anyways I'm gonna actually get back to writing this now. :)

* * *

Chapter O4: _"Yeah, they were all... yellow."_

Sonic stared warily at the older rabbit, readjusting his grip on Ainsley. "Yeah. We're leaving." He put the emphasis on "we", making it clear that he wasn't leaving without Ainsley in tow. Annabelle smiled almost innocently, alarm bells going off in his head almost immediately. He knew he had to bail quick if he didn't want to get himself beaten into next Tuesday.

"Oh, after all I've done to bring our God's attention to you?" A shiver went down Sonic's spine at Annabelle's words, beginning to back up once she took a step forward. "Oh, I am ever so sorry, but I am afraid that our God will not let you go so easily." Sonic started to feel Ainsley shake in his grip.

"What is she talking about?" Sonic hissed quietly to Ainsley, who he felt now gripping onto his chest.

"She is mad if she thinks that Mephiles will come back through the sacrifice she had already made." The name suddenly made the long-forgotten injury covered by the gauze over his chest made itself known, and Sonic did his best to cover up the expression of pain he most definitely had. He then saw the most dreadful sneer come from Annabelle, completely different from the kind woman he knew before for only a moment.

"He has already taken an interest in you from the earlier spell, Sonic. It appears you are perfect for his return." Nope, to hell with that. Sonic glared at Annabelle as his breathing strained for a moment. He knew that wall wasn't there before, so Sonic was going to have to do what he did best.

"I'm not sticking around for this." Sonic stated, only giving a millisecond for Annabelle to respond as he kicked off at full speed, kicking through the rock wall that collapsed right as his kick collided against it. He used the element of surprise against Annabelle and pushed forward through the rubble. Whatever that crazy rabbit did to him he had to push through.

He just despised the fact that he just bailed because of how insecure he was to begin with. He would have never gotten into this stupid situation. "Keep going!" Ainsley yelled over the wind that blew by them. "You are near the canyon's entrance!" Wait, what? He was outside the forest, wasn't he? However, the words that were spoken, he now doubted them.

Ainsley was the only one that made any sense in this stupid place. Sonic nodded and pushed himself forward, skidding to a halt in front of the edge. The canyon yawned out before him, having finally come back to the top of the canyon after what felt like ages. It was twilight, with purple crystals jutting out of the canyon on the sides, and at the bottom as well.

Sonic stared for a moment before he stumbled back. "Where...Where do I go to get to Camelot?" He was lost, dreadfully so, and Ainsley pointed to the right. Sonic nodded, quickly bailing from the area as fast as he could. He wasn't sure how long he could stay away from Annabelle, he didn't know the extent of her powers anyways, so he just did what he did best.

Run.

Sonic tore up the ground from underneath him in a frenzy to get away as quickly as he could, watching the dense forest carefully as he lept over logs, and fallen trees that were surrounding the forest. "Camelot is very far from here, you will probably arrive at night!" Ainsley called out over the wind. Sonic nodded, only taking a glance up to the sky. Twilight was fading fast, and Sonic quickly readjusted the grip he had on Ainsley as he jumped over yet another tree.

He found himself getting closer over time to the castle, already seeing it from the hill it sat on. He had been running for only an hour, but it put enough distance between him and whatever the hell was going on. He started to slow down, finally taking a breather. "What did she mean by Mephiles, anyways?" Sonic finally asked Ainsley, already starting to feel ill at him mentioning it. He felt Ainsley flinch at the name.

"He is a malevolent Time God that has gain a small following in this region." Ainsley softly explained as Sonic let her down to her feet. He stuffed his hands into the cloak's pockets as he frowned. Great. He never heard of anything like that really, so that just left him wondering what this could be back at home. "He requires a certain amount of sacrifices to return to our world, and I suppose you are a special case. A vessel, I suppose."

Sonic's ears folded back in response. He didn't like the sound of that at all. "I think my mother only begun part of the ritual to make you a viable candidate. I cannot predict when she will strike again, but I suspect it will be during the new moon. Mephiles-" Sonic again felt himself getting more ill, but he said nothing. "-prefers the dark, earning his honorific, Mephiles the Dark."

Chaos, was he going to die? Sonic inhaled sharply and nodded. "Right...your mom might be after you too, so it'll probably be safer for you to come with me to the castle." Sonic gently took Ainsley's hand as the young rabbit stared up to the hedgehog. "Castle? Are you the new king?" Ainsley questioned innocently. Sonic hesitated. Was he willing to lead this kid on to thinking that?

Sonic nodded after a moment. He could practically feel himself regretting the decision as he felt Ainsley's gaze turn into admiration for the older hedgehog. Boy, was he in deep shit with the other knights, and he had literally just realised that. "Oh, that is amazing! I would have never expected it!" Ainsley clapped her hands together with a wide grin. Sonic rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.

He took the young rabbit through the courtyard, stopping when he heard the click of metal slowly approaching him on the cobblestone path. He turned around, coming face to face with two people he hadn't expected at all. Sir Percival paused in front of the two, staring at them as she had her hand on her rapier, and Sir Tristan was right by her side with a bow.

"Sir Sonic?" Percival questioned softly. "Is that you?" Her hands dropped to her side as she put her guard down, and Tristan seemed to be more focused on Ainsley. Sonic nodded, putting his hand now in front of the rabbit.

" _Who is that?_ " Tristan took her turn to now ask a question. Sonic paused as he put his hand back into his cloak.

"A friend. Can we house her for now? Her mother's uh...a special case." Sonic danced around the subject, not willing to get into detail that quickly. "Ain't the kinda content to be talkin' about out here." Sonic cut it off as quickly as he could.

Percival frowned at Sonic's behaviour before she sighed, pushing her visor down. "I understand, we will discuss this in the morning, but we cannot afford to leave you alone after what Sir Gawain had reported to both Sir Lancelot and I." Sonic blanked on that, before he paled. Oh, yeah. He basically got kidnapped for two days, and was nearly made a vessel for some real screwed up God, didn't he?

Shit, this wasn't going to be fun to explain in the morning. Sonic nodded quietly, and followed the two into the castle, with Ainsley in tow. She admired the scenery much like Sonic had when he first arrived here. "Hey Ainsley, you can jus' stay in my room. I'll jus' sleep on the windowsill again." He grinned to the young rabbit, and he noted the stars that formed in her eyes.

"No way, really?!" Ainsley beamed as she practically bounced in place. Sonic nodded, and she regained her composure, now with a modest smile. "Thank you for everything, Sonic." The two knights seemed startled by the informality, but Sonic ruffled the top of her head with a lopsided grin.

"Anytime."

Sonic slipped into the bedroom that he had originally stayed in with Ainsley, holding her hand to keep her close by him. Once the two had taken a step inside, Sonic got down onto both his knees, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Ainsley, I have to go and tell everyone what happened. It's late, so can you give me a run-down just really quick?" Sonic asked quietly as his ears folded back, hearing the conversation just outside the door he had closed between Tristan and Percival.

"You were marked by Mephiles, it's the reason your chest is bandaged up." Ainsley kept her voice low, as quiet as she could manage, placing her hand on his chest. Sonic instinctively withdrew from her touch, his eyes widening in surprise. The touch in of itself just hurt, not enough for him to react, but enough for him to make a note of it. "It normally takes him a while to be able to imprint upon someone, but I suppose that you are an exception."

Sonic sighed, straightening himself back up to his full height. "Of course it is. Listen, jus' get comfortable okay? I'll just be camping out somewhere else tonight." The young rabbit nodded at Sonic's words, and she gently scrambled onto the bed, struggling to get back up to the bed itself in the final stretch.

Sonic watched for only a moment before he turned around and opened the oak door behind him, facing the two knights in front of him. He stepped out, and when he closed the door behind him, he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "So, uh...do you guys happen to know what Mephiles is? That's a pretty important part of this whole mess."

The two knights glanced at each other, and only Sir Tristan raised her hand. _"I come from a region where he was fairly well-known, but not worshipped as much as known. He was an infamous god, one who did not show mercy, and most feared his return."_ Sonic's ears perked up at the explanation, but his heart sank. He's going to absolutely devastate at least Tristan with this information.

"I don't really know much 'bout it, but Ainsley said that I got marked by him. Dunno what that means either." Sonic crossed his arms over his chest as he averted his gaze, huffing quietly. It didn't hurt when he was the one touching the bandages, but he felt like that wasn't the point of this. As expected, he heard Tristan's quiet gasp that had been quickly covered up by a cough.

 _"I cannot believe that someone was capable of the magical capability to perform that ritual. That is something to be especially concerned about."_ Tristan pushed her visor up, a clear frown now on her face, while Percival stole a glance to Tristan. _"This is troubling. We should increase the number of patrols occurring around the castle. Perhaps two every hour will suffice?"_

Percival shrugged in response. "That is a good question, one that I do not know the answer to, but it would be a start to better protect our defences. However, therein lies the concern of the mark. That is where I worry for you, Sir Sonic. Rumours may be rumours, but there are always bits of truth imbued in them."

Sonic frowned, confused at the wording. "I'll be fine, it's not the worst thing I've had to deal with." He dropped his hands into his cloak's pockets. "Chaos, you guys act like I'm gonna die in five seconds. I'm not that fragile." The wolf and cat both exchanged a quick look at each other before they had redirected their attention to Sonic.

 _"If you say so. The two of us must begin our patrol, and we will inform the rest of the remaining knights of this new schedule. However, we will not divulge this information to anyone you do not wish to know about it."_ Tristan inhaled sharply before she continued. _"Being marked by a God you do not worship is something that is considered sacrilege, but I doubt that any will betray you."_ Tristan ended her sentence with a short bow, glancing to Percival to continue the conversation.

The cat looked to be taken off guard by this, but she took the change in stride. "We will take our leave now, milord. Thank you for your time." Percival stated as she mimicked the same bow that Tristan had performed. Sonic waved his hand to dismiss the both, flushing ever so slightly out of clear embarrassment.

"It's okay to call me Sonic, you know, right? Told you guys that probably a hundred times by now." Sonic put both of his hands now on his hips, a small grin now forming upon his face. The two knights stood flabbergasted for only a minute before Percival nodded, glancing to Tristan as the two left the hallway with Sonic alone. Now came the issue of what he hadn't told the two. He unsheathed Caliburn, staring at where the face once was, holding him by his handle once more.

He didn't understand this at all. The one thing that he never thought he'd deal with had finally occurred, and Sonic's heart felt like it was starting to tear itself in two. He was the cause of someone's death that he could have easily prevented. He made his way quickly down the stairs, unwilling to do a single thing with Ainsley still in earshot. When he was down to the first floor, the hedgehog took a left into the doors underneath the second floor. It led to the basement stairs, something he had somewhat expected at that point.

The basement stairs were poorly illuminated, with Sonic having to squint under the torchlight that barely showed the way down.

It was a long way to the bottom, with each stone step against his well-worn red shoes, each step made his heart jump into his throat. When he had reached the bottom, he realized that it looked just like the hallway that was upstairs, with rooms across from each other with every few feet that passed. Sonic knocked on the first door to the left that he saw, with it creaking open to his touch.

It was a storage room, filled with mostly food items stuffed into sacks, but Sonic knew that this was the closest thing he would get to a bed for tonight. He closed the door behind him and exhaled quietly. He didn't mind this in the slightest and took to what he assumed was a collection of bags containing uncooked rice, jumping upon them as soon as he could. The bags of rice were comfortable, about as much as the cushions that he had fallen asleep upon last night.

He sighed as he laid down upon them, curling up into a ball to conserve heat as well as he could. He wasn't that cold, but he knew it was November, and that it would soon be cold. He didn't dare mess around with that and sighed gently as he closed his eyes. Who knows, maybe this whole mess would resolve itself in the morning. He just hoped that this would be the case.

* * *

 _Sonic woke up back in his own hammock, tumbling off it and slamming right onto the floor on his face. Sonic groaned, pulling himself up from the rug that he had fallen upon and looked around the room. Polaroids of his friends were thumbtacked onto the wall while his hammock was supported by the ceiling, with two hooks._

 _Wait a second. Was he back home? The hedgehog looked around erratically, his eyes widened as he quickly took in his surroundings. The bookcase with the beanbag chair right next to it, with a book wide open on it. There was a lamp on the bookcase as well, turned off. The light from the window was faint, signalling that it was now night time. Sonic felt his heart drop into his stomach._

 _Didn't he fall asleep on the rice bags? How was he back home? He put his hand on his chest, looking for the relic but finding nothing. His chest wasn't even affected, it was like he had never even been to Camelot. No evidence of his trials and tribulations. His mind first went to Lancelot. He was the only one he made a promise to go find the remaining relics after all. He left the kingdom in a mess after all, and Lancelot probably would absolutely despise him for doing so._

 _He unintentionally took the easy way out. Sonic didn't bother with the book, already having enough of reading to probably last him a long time. He opened the door to his room, expecting the hallway but all he found was darkness. It never got that dark, even when the lights were out in the hallway. He cautiously inched forward into the dark, and when he turned around, the door was gone._

 _This couldn't be right._

 _Sonic took a step back, the most horrible feeling starting to well up in the pit of his stomach. His ears folded back as panic almost set in, but then he saw the crystals sprouting up slowly in front of them. One by one, they formed next to each other, reminding him eerily of the crystals that Ainsley initially destroyed to give Sonic the relic._

 _From the crystals emerged something that looked way too like himself, everything looking alike except a sickly teal blue that was his fur, crystals jutting out from his quills, wrists, ankles, pretty much anywhere that the blue blur would assume them to be._

 _It looked to be made of crystals, with lifeless green eyes. "You are the one whom I had mistakenly marked upon, are you not?" Sonic stared almost slackjawed at the being, for it spoke without a mouth. He heard its laugh, the hedgehog's quills instinctively sharpening themselves to be ready for a fight. "Do not answer that, pet." The nickname sent a shiver down Sonic's spine, anger and fear now the only two emotions he could even recognize at that moment._

 _Sonic's hands balled up into fists as he stifled back a growl, unable to produce any other noise, and it elicited yet another laugh from the being. "Oh, your fighting spirit does not disappoint in the slightest. Normally a worshipper would have been chosen, but it appears that there was a mistake made. You were already marked by Chaos."_

 _The being sighed, placing its hand underneath its chin as it floated in place. "What a terrible fate you have been assigned to. Truly terrible." It sounded almost fake with its concern and that only angered Sonic further. "I will assist you with your search, though. The ritual had been botched, and I cannot return like this." Not daring to trust the being, Sonic took a step back._

 _"I'll be fine on my own." Sonic finally had retorted, once again causing the being to chuckle. Sonic shifted his weight on his feet with a frown, still staring up at the creature._

 _"Oh, I would simply love to see the truth behind that, pet." With what Sonic felt was a malicious grin in his words, he quickly took two steps back, finding that his own body was starting to chip off into the same crystals that he found Mephiles had taken the form of, and as the hedgehog started to panic, his consciousness was starting to fade._

* * *

Sonic woke up in a cold sweat, tumbling off the rice bags and hitting the stone floor with a thump. His head pounded with the pain that had created, and he immediately regretted the decision to sleep there. His heart was pounding, his head was racing, and his chest hurt horribly. Finally deciding to see the damage that the so-called ritual had done to him, he finally decided to look at his chest.

He didn't quite expect the same crystals he saw in his dream jutting out in his chest. "Oh no," Sonic mumbled, holding it with both of his hands. "No, no, no..." He started desperately trying to pull it out, finally succeeding in doing so. It was only a couple of inches long, but when it came out of him, it left no mark. Gone was the gauze that covered his chest, and just a long pale scar across the center of his chest where the crystal emerged.

"This isn't happening." Sonic didn't know what else to do with the crystal, so he chucked it against the wall. It shattered into pieces that didn't even form when he had destroyed it. Sonic started to shake as he desperately fought back tears. He had no idea what being marked even meant at this point and he was terrified to learn the answer.

He heard the door opening, and he reflexively covered himself up into a curled ball. He refused to cry in front of anyone else here at this point. That tease of his home was especially cruel, and everything just felt so real that he felt it cruel to even be referred to at all in that Chaos-forsaken dream.

"Sire?" It was Lancelot's voice, and Sonic quickly brought himself together. He sat up, waving with a forced smile on his face to Lancelot. Lancelot was still in his armor, something that Sonic became used to at that point. He saw the older hedgehog walk into the storage room, before stopping a good distance away. "I believe it would be in your best interest to know that the girl you brought in had run off in the night."

Sonic's heart seized in his chest. "What?" His smile turned uneasy. "Why didn't anyone catch her?" He leaned forward on his hands, an ear folding back in response to the statement.

"She quite literally disappeared. Was that child not a magic user? You should not be surprised that she had left." Lancelot extended a hand out to Sonic, who graciously took it while mouthing 'thank you' to the other. "You were marked, correct?" Sonic's ears almost immediately flattened against his head at the question, but the blue blur nodded in response.

"It is odd that you would be marked this easily, although there seems to be much involved with you that defies logic."

Sonic nodded numbly, already feeling himself melt as he started to try and step back, but Lancelot's grip was like steel. With the response processed, Lancelot released Sonic and folded his arms over his chest. "I would suggest that we start a training session soon. Head upstairs and get ready, I will come to fetch you with Gawain as well."

Sonic swore he could hear the grimace in Lancelot's voice when he spoke his next sentence. "It would appear Gawain has been eager for a rematch." Sonic felt himself laugh at this, and he rubbed his own nose with a wide smile.

"I'm sure he's just ready for another beatdown," Sonic replied with the smile turning to a smirk. A fight could help get his mind off of things, and as he was right now, he desperately needed it.


	5. v

A/N: Wanted to write PMD fic but here I am I guess! Oops. Anyways yes you can get a fifth chapter, you guys pretty much deserve it at this point all things considered. Only took me a year to actually get back into Sonic since I've been having a hard time actually finding motivation. I mostly had to figure out what I wanted to initially write for this and I think I got something for once.

I'm also sick so that might be why this isn't very good. It's meant as an interval for me to get used to writing this stuff again. Thanks for the review though :)

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Chapter O5: _"I came along, wrote a song for you."_

"So Gawain is just calling this a 'training session' just because he wants to beat the ever living hell out of me?" Sonic still couldn't get over how absolutely hilarious the reaction from Lancelot was, just the same grim nod he had gotten before, and it still earned him a laugh. The two had navigated their way through the castle to one of the many courtyards, one of which was meant for practice battles between fellow knights, and Gawain was poised more professionally than Sonic had ever seen him before.

He had slammed his sword into the ground before the two of them had gotten there, and was leaning on his sword with his hands. His visor covered his expression, but Sonic couldn't care less about that. "Wow Gawain, finally taking your job seriously for once?" Sonic teased with a wide grin, leaving Lancelot at the edge of the outside hallway as he rested his hand on his hip while he walked.

Gawain took the sword out of the ground and leaped at Sonic, with the young hedgehog side-stepping the brash tactic he could have seen coming a mile away. He slipped his foot underneath Gawain's own to trip him up, slamming the other foot down on the sword to make Gawain let go of it. Sonic clicked his tongue with a sigh, pulling the sword from Gawain's hand. "You really need to think before you jump." Sonic spun around and walked from Gawain as he hummed. "How on Earth are you part of the Round Table again?"

Of course Sonic was kidding, but realizing where he was, he tossed Gawain's sword to the ground with a quiet sigh. "I'm kidding Gawain. Just-"

Sonic was tackled to the ground at that moment, roughly pushed onto his back with Gawain holding the sword to his neck that Sonic previously discarded not even a second before. Sonic's heart jumped to his throat as his chest suddenly felt like it was collapsing in on itself. The young hedgehog grinned uneasily as he had his hands pinned to the ground. "Okay, I get it, I get it, lemme go Gawain-..."

The surprise came from when the sword was pressed harder against Sonic's neck. "The sheer fact that an underhanded tactic caught you off guard is even more evidence that your insistence of going out on your own is a fool's mistake." Gawain hissed before he backed off, standing up straight and leaving Sonic still on the ground disoriented. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand and hopped up to his feet, rubbing his nose as he averted his gaze to the side.

"Is that seriously what you wanted to say...? Chaos dude, don't...don't do that if you just want to say that I'm crap at seeing traps or whatever." He felt his own embarrassment coloring his muzzle as he huffed gently.

"Your disappearance has sat heavily upon all, especially amongst some of the more senior members of the table. I feel that has not been something you have taken into consideration recently." Sonic glanced over to where Lancelot was still standing, watching dutifully as ever, and Sonic's shame turned to just being uncomfortable.

"Right...did you actually want to duel me or was this just some kind of method to getting me to talk to you?"

"The latter. I do not wish to have a repeat of the first time we fought."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "And I'm the queen of frickin'...tell ya what, if you actually do need to talk to me? Just say 'hey Sonic! I need to borrow you for a moment, got to tell you something important' instead of making it seem like I pissed you off. Cool?"

The lack of a response outside of a bow infuriated Sonic to some small degree, but he didn't comment on it. "I understand. I must see to my other duties." When the echidna left, Sonic exhaled sharply, finally noting the pain still in his chest and pressing down on his heart. He ignored the sharpness that pressed back, vision blurring from the pain he caused himself as he pushed it in. He wasn't interested in trying to figure out why his chest kept hurting the way it did. He had an idea, but it didn't interest him.

He strolled over to where Lancelot had been watching, emotions again hidden by his visor, and Sonic offered a shifty smile to Lancelot. "Did you like what you saw there, or are you at a loss for words?"

Lancelot sighed. "All I saw was that Sir Gawain had decided to win a duel in the most dishonorable fashion I could think of. I am disappointed, but ultimately not surprised by this."

Sonic couldn't help but laugh.


	6. vi

A/N: i kinda don't know what i'm doing for this chapter, so a lot of the descriptions might be a bit off

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Chapter O6.

Sonic backed out of the situation as quickly as he could. Despite his laugh, his smile, his chest continued to hurt more as time went on within that fake fight. Sonic slipped behind a corner, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, and in the dark, he somehow felt better. He pushed his hand through his quills, clutching his chest with the other, feeling something foreign push against it. Why did no one else see these stupid crystals? Was he just hallucinating? He lifted his hand, and his heart sunk into his stomach to see that, in the darkness, the crystals jutted out. It was no longer just one, but several smaller ones congregated around his heart. The bandages were not visible in the darkness, and that kept his heart in the pit of his stomach. He should have seen that coming, hell, he should have seen any of this coming, but he didn't.

 _"Pathetic."_ Both his own voice and someone else's integrated into one, and it sent a shiver down his spine. It laughed, and he felt a hand on his shoulder as something pushed forward from the invisible crystals. Were they only visible in the night...? Whatever came out was as black as the night sky under a new moon, like a dense smog tainted by burning coal for so long. It had barely any form, just a vaguely shifting black blob that he could feel smiling at him. " _All these people, they care so much about their king...is that not admirable that they can so readily accept a look-a-like?"_ Sonic quickly turned to the side to face away from the entity. He knew who it was.

"Shut up, Mephiles." Sonic stated, his growl barely hidden behind the two words. "I don't care, this isn't my home. My job's done."

The thing laughed again. _Oh? And your home is so much better, is it not?_ It mocked him, and Sonic's quills bristled at it's tone. It started forming into a hedgehog like form, another level to mock him as it looked like his own shadow. Great. Sonic gripped his hands into fists as he stifled back his knee-jerk reactions. _Are you not tired of playing the hero? There is only pain down that road, young one._ It grinned this time, showing light in the dark, and that was what unsettled Sonic the most. The hedgehog took a step back with his back now to the wall, and it followed, lazily floating along like a Cheshire cat, the grin staying as it was originally formed. " _I have seen countless heroes fall to their own hubris, whether it be by death or by insanity, all will eventually disappear. Does that not scare you? That you will return to your home at the cost of some other world's stability?"_

"No! It's not my fault that some random nobody wizard decided to screw over some kingdom for who knows how long! I have actual things to get back to that aren't in a storybook! I stayed here to help get the immediate problem fixed, they can find a new king themselves. I don't want to be stuck in some random story my whole life."

 _"So you admit that everything you have ever felt here is fake? Every single person as well?"_ It swirled around him, obscuring his surroundings in its darkness as the crystals revealed themselves in the dark. Dark green to light green, three jutting out from his chest, but even as he laid a hand upon them to tear them out, he couldn't. _Who is to say that cannot be true of your world? Were you ever even sure that the world you come from is not an illusion constructed by that wizard you so readily cursed?_ Sonic stared blankly towards where he thought he heard the being's voice, clutching the crystals for dear life as he sunk down to his knees. "I...No, I know where I come from is real. The scars prove it." He stated quietly.

 _"You have scars from here as well, child."_

Sonic's quills stiffened as his body accepted a fight-or-flight response immediately, and he tensed up to boot. In the darkness, the being formed again, still his shadow, and still with that damned grin plastered upon it. It picked up Sonic's arm to pull him up to his feet with the grin turning sly, pushing down the bandages to show the true damage that the crystals had done. Under the light that he had temporarily let in, it was egregious, a wide diagonal scar across the chest where fur refused to grow just yet. Within the break of the darkness, it showed the truth of the matter, and when the being put the darkness back up with a wave of his hand once more, it showed the crystals covering the wound again. _"The ritual did almost kill you, what with you being a dimensional oddity, but I took pity on you as the god of time itself."_ It spoke quietly, and while Sonic felt like he should have been unnerved, he was just numb, nothing even processing for him as the entity continued.

 _"Camelot's king would be dead if it were not for my intervention, and yet, he is as selfish as ever."_

Sonic stared forward, this time to no one in particular. Was he? He thought he was reasonable, his home wasn't here, was it? He lived with Tails, Knuckles, Amy...for his whole life. Yet, something about this made him doubt the validity of his memories. _"Merlina attempted to kill you. Why would it not be possible for her to alter your own memories as well?"_ It started once again, it's grin long-gone and faded into the darkness. _"Think of why none listen to your requests. They think you have lost it, but perhaps you have due to the stress of the situation. Maybe I can help refresh your memory."_

...

"Attacking the king after such a traumatic event was obviously a moronic decision! Why would you do such a thing?!" Sir Percival had finally found her voice as she was berating Sir Gawain for the state she managed to find Sonic in. While the blue blur looked to be sleeping, nothing would wake him up, and this was the last straw. "Are you under the influence of mead again? I swear, it is as if all of your decisions are fueled by it!"

Percival, along with the help of Lancelot, and Gawain, had decided to keep this as quiet as possible. Well, that lasted about as long up until Gawain mentioned something along the lines of the king's health during and after battle. "Do not make this about how I choose to consume alcohol! I am perfectly sober!" Gawain declared loudly, prompting a fierce glare from Lancelot. Apparently, the hedgehog had slipped out of the ultimate knight's sights for only a moment, and it clearly infuriated him to be subjugated to this quarrel. "Enough. If I have to listen to two children bickering any longer, I'll simply summon one of the maids."

Gawain clearly had a line already thought up in retort, but Percival spoke quicker. "I am sorry. We both see how upset this has made you, and I am afraid that we were angry on your behalf as well." Percival glanced to Gawain before she heaved a sigh. "Gawain, perhaps there would be some information about different Gods and the sort where you grew up? Your home is unimaginably old, after all, there might be details about what this could entail." Percival gently prodded, a clear 180 from her previous disposition. Gawain simply shrugged in response.

"No. I shall get the healers and figure this out myself. Watch over his quarters with your life, or I'll take it." Lancelot hissed, opening the door and slamming it shut to the king's former bedroom, leaving the two in silence.


End file.
